New pond owner - Need help pretty urgently.

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I moved into this home 3 years ago and it had a pond, had 1 goldfish in it was fairly small. I never did anything with the pond. I noticed it used to have some type of pump but was removed, the house sat empty for some years.

Well here we are 3 years down the road and the ole lady wants to add more goldfish to the pond, surprisingly the fish that was there when we first moved in is HUGE like 4 times the size it was. Figured it was from all the algae and lawn clippings being thrown in over the summers of mowing.

Ole lady added about 12 more fish to the pond so I been curious with if that was even okay to do without a filter or pump or some type of maintenance. She told me we had 2 dead fish this morning so after some quick searching I realized more fish we needed more oxygen so I went out and bought myself a pump, filter box, hose, waterfall spillway box thing, and just threw it together to have some movement for the fish.

Here is what I purchased:

Total Pond 800 GPH Pond Pump Model # DD11800
Total Pond 3/4 in. x 20 ft. Corrugated Tubing
Total Pond 8 in. Spillway Waterfall Cascade Model # A16575
Total Pond Universal Pump Filter Box Model # MF13010

I paln on going in and hiding all the tubing etc cleaning it up. I do not wish to have anymore dead fish and would like to have this properly going. It has a bunch of moss seaweed in it, which im guessing im going to have to manually clean out. I also have quite a bit of frogs that are always in and around it.

I have never treated or added anything to the pond, I have never fed the fish. Also I believe the bottom of the pond is kind of like a lake and all thick mud and gunk.

Where do I go from here?

Thank you, this was a picture taken yesterday after the filter box and pump with spillway was installed.

32104695_618944698454527_7808689841972969472_n.jpg
 
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sissy

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do you know how many gallons the pond is .Use a pond calculator on puter .Fish need to be quaranteened before adding to the pond and pond should be some what cleaned .But don't over clean it .Do you have city water or well .
 
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@sissy he's past quarantine. The new fish are already in the pond.

You're doing the right thing by moving slowly @raider89 . Get your waterfall running and that will help to start clearing the water. Do you have any filter media in your waterfall box?

The bottom will need to be scooped out, but again - move slowly. If debris has been building up for a number of years, there will be gases trapped that can be harmful to your fish. Remove the debris slowly and you should be fine. Get a good pool net for the job. I've found the nets that they sell for pond use are cheaply made and don't last. I have a pool net that has been stored outdoors for six years and it still looks as good as new.

Goldfish can live happily in a garden pond without ever being fed. In fact, if you don't feed them, they will take care of that algae for you! So no need to feed them unless you want to. But for now - no food. That will only add to the situation that you are trying to resolve.

Are there any pond plants growing in the pond? Those will also help with clearing up the water quality.

Keep asking questions! We love helping new pond owners!
 
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Welcome,
Also didn't hear you mention getting a water quality test kit. Make sure you test you water daily till you get this figured out. I'm guessing the pond with no help was overloaded with the additions. Aeration and clean up will help with the water quality, but you will need to quickly address the ammonia if it is high. Once the pond is stabalized, plan on how to maintain the water quality going forward.

Post more on your progress and remember to include pictures, best of luck to you
 
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do you know how many gallons the pond is .Use a pond calculator on puter .Fish need to be quaranteened before adding to the pond and pond should be some what cleaned .But don't over clean it .Do you have city water or well .

I will have to measure it correctly once I get home, but from a quick glance if I were to give it an estimate I would say it is around 1000 gallon, so I tried to get the biggest pump I could grab at the store. We have city water.
 
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@sissy he's past quarantine. The new fish are already in the pond.

You're doing the right thing by moving slowly @raider89 . Get your waterfall running and that will help to start clearing the water. Do you have any filter media in your waterfall box?

The bottom will need to be scooped out, but again - move slowly. If debris has been building up for a number of years, there will be gases trapped that can be harmful to your fish. Remove the debris slowly and you should be fine. Get a good pool net for the job. I've found the nets that they sell for pond use are cheaply made and don't last. I have a pool net that has been stored outdoors for six years and it still looks as good as new.

Goldfish can live happily in a garden pond without ever being fed. In fact, if you don't feed them, they will take care of that algae for you! So no need to feed them unless you want to. But for now - no food. That will only add to the situation that you are trying to resolve.

Are there any pond plants growing in the pond? Those will also help with clearing up the water quality.

Keep asking questions! We love helping new pond owners!

In the filter box it has 8 of the bioballs and the black and blue rough rectangle filters, I had to go outside this morning and remove some of the algate that was covering the box holes not allowing flow to the waterfall. But inside the waterfall box I do not have anything. Should I move some of the bioballs to it? I do notice there is some plant life in the pond throughout the bottom around and arond the edges.
 
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Welcome,
Also didn't hear you mention getting a water quality test kit. Make sure you test you water daily till you get this figured out. I'm guessing the pond with no help was overloaded with the additions. Aeration and clean up will help with the water quality, but you will need to quickly address the ammonia if it is high. Once the pond is stabalized, plan on how to maintain the water quality going forward.

Post more on your progress and remember to include pictures, best of luck to you

No water testing has been done, my guess is it would break the kit (joking). It is probably way off if I had to guess. I will also add this to the buy-list I am creating.
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome! Cute little pond!

I agree with what everyone else is saying. Yes, from this point on, get a test kit (let us know and we’ll help figuring all that out, but probably would be better doing so in a separate thread/topic — just so it doesn’t get lost in this one). Continue to GO SLOWLY! Add no more fish, monitor your water, scoop out the bottom (in stages, not all at once). And please, get a grass catcher for your mower — no more glass clippings in the pond! Not only can those contain harmful chemicals, but they will very quickly add excess nutrients to the water!

Keep us posted!
 
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But inside the waterfall box I do not have anything. Should I move some of the bioballs to it?

Oh, my mistake. I see now you said you have a waterfall spillway - not a biofalls. Your filter media belongs in the filter, so you've got that right! And yes, getting things moving will mean lots of cleaning in the beginning as all that organic material is getting stirred up for the first time in a long time. You'll get ahead of it quickly though. You'll be amazed how fast a pond will clear up with a little TLC.
 
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Pond was quite a bit clearer yesterday morning, noticing all the fish are kinda all gathering under the waterfall. So filter is doing its job, test kit is on its way. Thinking about adding a little nozzle and picking up some plants to eventual set in.
 

Mmathis

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Pond was quite a bit clearer yesterday morning, noticing all the fish are kinda all gathering under the waterfall. So filter is doing its job, test kit is on its way. Thinking about adding a little nozzle and picking up some plants to eventual set in.
If they’re gathering under the waterfall, I would think they’re going to that spot because the water is better oxygenated there.
 

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